Category Archives: Servant Leadership

“So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?” John 6:30

God help us not to forget the miracles we have witnessed in our life time. Don’t let today’s burdens make us forget your love for us and your willingness to share our yolk.

God help us not to forget the miracle:

Of having a place to call home
Of having that job to pay those long overdue bills
Or finding that special friend and the love of our life

God help us not to forget the miracle:

Of being parents—when we and others thought it was not possible
Or re-uniting with family and friends that we thought were long lost

God help us not to forget the miracle:

Of having spiritual mentors and heroes who strengthened our faith
For witnessing the physical healing of family and friends; we thought would long be gone
Of holding the hands of a dear brother as he departed this world or to be in the presence of friends as they too left us.

God help us not to forget your peacefulness, your assurances and the promises you have laid on our hearts.

I pray that as we remember the miracles in our lives that we will use our “gift of living” to help others who have forgotten their miracles— to bring hope to the hopeless; to provide shelter for the homeless and like Jesus feed the thousands.

When we remember our miracles we, like Jesus, can speak boldly the words of Isaiah 61:1-3a:

“The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon (us)…; God has sent (us) to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…; to comfort all who mourn; 3 and provide for those who grieve…”
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2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? 3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict bounds. (Habakkuk 1:2-3, NIV).

God have I lived too long? Have I lost the passion to serve, to believe?God have I lived too long? Where’s the love in this world; the love that was read to me in Sunday school? Have I forgotten the lessons of my youth? How you defeated the evil one or have I lost the vision to see past the evils in this world? For all I see is hatred, destruction, selfishness, hurts, tears. Why do we hate and condemn others in your name?

God have I lived too long? I am so uncertain, at this moment, what my cause should be. What do you want me to be, to do?

God have I lived too long? Have I become jaded, have I given up hope? My prayers seemed so shallow. Surely, I am not the only one that feels this way; don’t you see the suffering in this world? Don’t you see the hatred in this world? What must I do; what must we do?

God I have come too far to give up now. Renew my faith; give me that youthful zest to enter into this new battle. Help me to influence and transform others to live out their passions—to change this world. Help me God to learn the lessons of faith; to trust you in all circumstances and to acknowledge that you are still in control.

I know now what prophets of the past have learned; that your justice will come on your terms and that you will change this world as you are changing me one moment, one day at a time.

1. 1. What steps are you taking to change the world?
   2. What armor of yours (Ephesians 6:10-17) needs to be replaced or added?

Challenge yourself today to look beyond the obvious and to look to God to bring true justice to this world.

God, I want to be like you. I don’t want to have flaws, to sin. I want to be perfect, feel perfect; to be like YOU.Paul, the apostle, had a sinful “thorn in his side.” But did that matter to YOU? No. He was human. We all are humans, with all our flaws.

So God, help me get over myself. Help me to fully enjoy and live the human experience; flaws and all. YOU created me, with full knowledge that in my humanness I will sin, not one time, but many times.

I pray God that in the end, my spirit that is having and living this human experience will return to YOU refined and perfect just like YOU. Amen.

The year 2008 was a different type of year for me. It was a time to look back, but it was also a year I looked to the future.

First let me review the past. I was yearning to hear God’s voice; the way I heard God’s voice in my early years. Some say that when you are a babe in Christ; God speaks to you more often; God wants to make sure a connection is made. However, as you mature in your journey with God; God is expecting you to rely on your faith and thus, He communicates to you in less obvious ways. I am not sure if that is correct, but it certainly strengthened my faith and lessened my fears when I found out that even Mother Teresa struggled to hear God’s voice. I wrote on May 30th: “Oh God, I long so much for yesterdays, the days when I felt so close to you; I could feel your presence, I could hear your voice. I long so much for yesterdays.”

I also wanted to find my voice in this chaotic world. On 3/19, I wrote, “I need to find my voice and once I know what it is; I must have the courage to verbalize my thoughts….”

One day when I was studying Job 31:35 (Oh, that I had someone to hear me); I reflected on these words. “Do I not listen well? Do I not hear what God is telling me? I often wonder if God hears me. I never get the answer I want. It seems that life goes on and on and no words from God. People still hurt me; people still hurt others; storms continue to come and oh yes, I still sin. God help me to hear with your ears. Help my hearing to be one that can change the world because it’s a hearing of understanding, a hearing of passion, patience, justice, mercy and love. Thank you God for hearing this prayer. Amen.

I then lost two heroes from my past. My uncle Cornell passed away on October 28th; a week before the historic presidential election. I thought this to be significant as he was an advocate for justice and was a civil rights leader during my youth. I so much admired him. I was not the only one, because at his funeral 300+ came to give their respect. And yes, they were all reminded the importance of the November election—a chance to elect an African American as our president. We know how that ended.

The other person who died was a former board member of a nonprofit agency I led many years ago. Camille Klein was a special lady. The word “no” was not in her vocabulary. Her motto of “yes we can” was way ahead of her time. She was able to get all that the agency needed; whether it was in material goods and/or people’s voluntary time. She was such an angel.

I feel so grateful to have known them both. What a legacy and yes, this helped to shape my thinking for the future. What legacy will I leave; when will I retire; can I afford to retire; what will I do in my retirement. So as always I went to God.

God, I want to be your role model for people here on earth. I want to lead them…open my eyes on how to do that. Reveal the opportunities to share my leadership qualities; not in my everyday job, but in my voluntary work, in my faith community, with my side job and yes God in everything that I do and by the way, I would love to be financially compensated for it. However, God I know that’s not important to you. I trust you and I know that you want the best for me—bring me closer to your will; Amen.